Asia-Pacific stocks mixed as oil jumps; Reserve Bank of Australia keeps cash rate target unchanged

• The Reserve Bank of Australia announced Tuesday its decision to keep the cash rate target unchanged at 0.1%.

• Markets in Hong Kong and mainland China are closed on Tuesday for a holiday.

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Tuesday trade, while the Reserve Bank of Australia kept its cash rate target unchanged.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 climbed 0.12% while the Topix index shed 0.29%.

South Koreas Kospi edged 0.1% lower. Elsewhere, Australia stocks rose as the S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.26%.

In Southeast Asia, Singapores Straits Times index gained 0.34%. Markets in Hong Kong and mainland China are closed on Tuesday for a holiday.

MSCIs broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded around 0.2% higher.

Oil moves higher

Oil prices were higher in the afternoon of Asia trading hours on Tuesday, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 1.27% to $108.90 per barrel. U.S. crude futures climbed 1.38% to $104.71 per barrel.

Oil prices jumped on Monday as investors braced for the prospect of more Western sanctions on Russia following allegations of civilian massacres near Ukrainian towns.

The European Unions new sanctions on Russia are likely to include steel, luxury, jet fuel and more, sources told CNBC. The bloc, however, remains divided over whether to extend those sanctions to energy imports.

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“It‘s like a little dance that has been going on around energy sanctions,” Vandana Hari, founder of Vanda Insights, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Tuesday. “The U.S. banned Russian oil imports but we know that its a far more difficult decision … for Europe.”

“We also have to think about what Putin might do in retaliation, so you know thats another major headache for the European Union,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Australia announced Tuesday its decision to keep the cash rate target unchanged at 0.1%.

“The Board has wanted to see actual evidence that inflation is sustainably within the 2 to 3 per cent target range before it increases interest rates,” said RBA Governor Philip Lowe. “Inflation has picked up and a further increase is expected, but growth in labour costs has been below rates that are likely to be consistent with inflation being sustainably at target.”

Following that decision the Australian dollar surged to $0.7573, continuing to trek upward after yesterdays jump from below $0.75.

Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 climbed 0.81% to 4,582.64. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 103.61 points, or 0.3%, to 34,921.88. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite outperformed, surging 1.9% to 14,532.55.

Currencies

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 99.026 after a recent climb from below 98.6.

The Japanese yen traded at 122.50 per dollar, weaker as compared with levels below 122 seen against the greenback last week.